The Primel or Corn-Obol-Fecc system

The Corn-Obol-Fecc or Primel system is an alternate system based on gravity, the specific gravity of water, and joule constant (specific heat of water), as unit values. The particular choice of working base units allow for easier implementation, without destroying the design of the system.

There are some measures of matter which scale well: the density of atoms and stars are not much different to water. Although the velocities do vary from what we experience, to thermal velocities (around 1000 kms) up to stellar velocities and then ultimately the speed of light, the variations here are five orders of magnitude in place of eighteen magnitudes for length and time.

We are ultimately human, and we walk around on the surface of a particular planet. A number of rubbery constants have come to be accepted, such as the connection between mass and volume through capacity, mass and force through weight, and the connection between energy and the product of mass and temperature, through specific heat. The basis of this system (there identical up to names), is then this.

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The circle is taken as unit, and divided into powers of 12, into 100; degrees, of 100; minutes of 100; seconds. The measure of angle in radians applies only when one has a small fraction of an incomplete circle.

The cycle of the day directly converts angle and time, by way of right ascession. But the natural division usually advanced of the day is into powers of 12 also, as 10; hours of 100; minutes of 100; seconds. This blink of an eye, the unit equal to the TGM scale, is 1/2 of these seconds.

The unit of time in this system is a fecc, "a period of time". A decimal second is 34.56 of these units, a day is 1 000 000; of 1D6 feccs.

Calendar refers to grouping of days into weeks, months and years. The change of that system has no part of this system: conversion to a duodecimal system does not need unwarranted distraction that the religious revolts would produce.

At this time, there are five units of velocity in use: the foot per second, metre per second, mile per hour, kilometre per hour, and knot. Although the units of the ratios vary by factors of 5000, the actual units lie between 1 and 3.3 ft/s. This means that selecting a velocity unit as a means for selectiong time (time = velocity / gravity), and then use the formula that length = velocity × time to derive the length units from time.

The resulting units like 'foot/second / g' gives a time unit like 1/32.175 seconds, while a km/h gives 1/35.3 s, which neatly brackets the time unit of 1/34.56 second. A unit of this length gives the sorts of velocities one sees on land well in the range of 1 to 100; (90 mph or 140 kms). Moreover, because the unit is near the km/h, simply converting the road signs and rounding will give a very close idea of the speeds involved.

The unit of length thus derived is then about 1/3 inch, or the length of a barleycorn. Over 1 second, one travels a hand (4 inches, 100 mm), a minute gives (48 ft, or 14.4 m), and an hour gives a mile of 6912 feet or 2.0736 km, A mile per hour is the same as a hand per second, or a corn per fecc, is a velo of velocity.

One can still keep feet and inches, by making the yard as four feet or 100; corns. The foot divides into 10; inches of 10; lines etc. A mile would be at this rate, 1000; yards, of 100; corns.

The unit of area is a verge (yard) of land, being a rectangle of one yard long and one mile long, or one furlong wide, and one chain long.

The knot, on the other hand, derives from a very different velocity: the speed of the rotating earth at some point, is 1000; knots, or 10000; minutes of arc in 10; hours.

The units of mass (weight in metrological terms), is derived from a cube of water. A cubic corn of water weights something like 5/9 gram, around the weight of a greek gold obol. This unit is small, but one can build up either a traditional system, or steps of the obol to larger units. A cubic hand of water gives a caddy or kilogram-size unit.

A volume of a caddy is a cubic hand, gives a unit near a litre. This can be divided in the traditional cooking measures into 4 cups, of 48 teaspoons etc.

Although modern metrology defines pressure in terms of force per area, the actual measurement of this comes from a head of liquid, either mercury or water. Even today, one measures the pressure that watches might withstand, in terms of metres of water.

Atmospheric pressure is typically in the order of 890; corns of water (or 35 feet). The unit of pressure is then pretty much near the metrologist's millibar, except that most of the weather that we have would stay in a three-digit arrange.